


Black Coffee

by Callisto_HK



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tony-centric, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 00:36:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7913563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callisto_HK/pseuds/Callisto_HK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't a typical rescue mission, but it was a rescue mission nevertheless. He was going to get in, find the girl and get her out. At least it was the plan. But sometimes, things just don't go according to plans! Those times, everyone has to improvise and just hope for the best and... Well, pray for it a little.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story happens during season 11; it doesn't contain any spoilers, though and it has nothing to do with the storyline of season 11 or that of season 12.

4\. 18. 23.

Those numbers were important.

.

It was never supposed to be an easy operation, that's why they'd put extra effort into getting prepared; but it wasn't supposed to get so out of hand, either.

They were supposed to find the whereabouts of an Admiral's granddaughter. It was supposed to be a by the book rescue mission. Tony was supposed to get in; get friendly with the gang members; find Melissa; inform his team and get her out before busting the organ smuggling ring for good.

All they had been worried about was the fact that they had no idea whether Melissa was still alive or not; they were worried that the cartel had abducted Melissa for her organs and it was a scary thought that she might've suffered in the hands of those sick bastards while they cut her open and took out her organs to ship around.

She was supposed to be on vacation, so, by the time her family noticed that she was missing, she'd already been gone for one week. And they took two more days searching around and informing the local cops before informing her grandfather, Admiral Josiah Chester, hoping that he could use his power and contacts to find his 27 year old granddaughter and that was when NCIS had been informed.

The MCRT had worked, days and nights, nonstop for a whole week until they finally found the links between Melissa's disappearance and the organ dealing ring.

The images on the database that FBI had on that cartel was terrifying; the variety of their victims, the shape of their ditched bodies, _everything_ screamed of extreme brutality.

The sadist bastards weren't just _any_ organ dealers; the autopsy results showed different types of drugs in the victims' system and that plus other signs indicated that apparently the victims had been conscious while they'd been ripped open for their organs.

Male, female, young, old; there was no age limit for the victims; they'd be taken and kept for days, weeks, even, before they were used and finally died and ditched near where they lived; with all of their useful organs taken away; all that mattered was that he or she had been healthy before being abducted.

The FBI, after months, still hadn't been able to take the cartel down. Nobody knew who the Big Boss was and taking down a few lowlifes would do them no good. They had lost two agents just trying to get inside the circle and while the third had successfully found his way in, they'd lost connection with him after three weeks and a month later, they found his body on the side of a road, tortured and without his internal organs.

So, with all those information, the future of Melissa Chester didn't look so bright. She'd been gone for 18 days before Gibbs' team finally got to a point where they had found enough connections to start making their moves and although they all still tried their best to find something, everyone knew what 18 days in a case like that meant.

For the moment, what they needed to do was to find a way inside and since their first priority was to rescue Melissa Chester, they didn't need to get in too deep; they didn't need to get to the top of the ring just yet; the first person who knew something about her would suffice.

That was when Tony was sent in. He went in as the 41 year old Ben Mayer with a background of jail for drug and arm dealing. According to the file they'd made for him, it'd been two weeks that he'd escaped from jail and that was why he was looking for a way to stay under the radar and get his hands on some easy money.

They'd already identified a few links to the main cartel, so getting in hadn't been hard for Tony, especially since he never asked anything about the Big Boss or about what exactly they were doing. He'd just asked for a job and with his background, he'd been able to convince the man who'd been in charge of one of the lowest subgroups to let him in.

For the first few days, he'd found nothing and had only worked his way up subtly; after a week, much to the FBI's _secret_ chagrin, he'd stepped two levels higher than where he'd started and with the amount of expertise and confident he'd shown, he'd gained the trust and respect of many members of the group.

They still had no idea who the Big Boss was, but by then, Tony knew many of the bosses of the subgroups and had befriended with some of them.

That was 25 days after Melissa had disappeared and since her body hadn't been found yet, they had to just hope that she was still alive.

Finding information about her wasn't easy, because he couldn't exactly ask around about her; everybody would get suspicious and he'd be dead before he could even open his mouth to come up with an excuse. He had no choice but to wait and listen to all the conversations being held around him; he barely slept and whenever he found the chance, he'd snoop around the warehouses he'd found out about.

The worst part of his mission, though, was that he'd been forced to cooperate in abducting two men and that alone was weighing heavily on his conscience. He'd let Gibbs know where those men had been taken to and then only hoped his people would find them before it was too late; because if anything happened to them, he knew he couldn't look at himself in the mirror ever again.

Exactly one month after her disappearance, Tony finally found something slightly useful about where Melissa was possibly being held.

It was pure luck that he'd stumbled upon a picture of Melissa on the floor of Ed's room. - _Ed was an ex-military and typically a hard-ass, bulky guy who was in charge of 5 men and he saw Tony as his trustworthy friend. The thing about Ed was that although he was working for the Big Boss, he was somehow running his own business in the background and that was where Tony came in handy. He dealt drugs in the streets and with Tony's expertise and connections, they'd made a few great deals._

_Again, Tony had been forced to just help Ed and trust his team to get rid of those drugs that had found their ways to the streets of D.C. -_

At first, when Tony's eyes caught the picture, he'd frozen in his place for a millisecond, but he quickly schooled his feature, bent down and picked it up. "Heeey, who's this hottie? That your girl?" He put a smirk on his face as he said those words. "You sly dog."

Ed looked up from his computer, snatched the picture from Tony's hand and checked it out. "Not my girl, You ass." He barked a laugh. "Wouldn't mind a piece of her, though."

"No kidding. Who would?" Tony grinned back. "So if she's not your girl, why do you have her pic here? You stalking her or something?"

Ed snorted. "Yeah, 'cause I'd need to stalk anyone. Man, I'd get any girl I want with no problem. Just not this one." He sighed melodramatically.

"Why not?" Tony raised his eyebrow, silently swallowing hard, dreading the answer. _Did that mean that Melissa was dead? Was that why Ed said he couldn't have this one?_

"She's in the big house." Ed said with a tone of voice that showed he wasn't happy about it. "The Big Boss has to get all the good things. We... We just have to deal with the oldies or men. If we could get our hands on any beautiful girl, we wouldn't just take care of her internal organs. You know what I mean?" Ed whispered with a sly smirk.

Tony laughed easily, even though he was having a hard time keeping his anger and disgust under control and out of his voice. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not having thought about it sooner. Of course they wouldn't take a beautiful woman and use just her organs; of course they'd do more things to her before getting tired of her and ripping her body apart.

All he wanted to do was puke. The poor girl was probably being raped repeatedly by the Big Boss and he had to sit there and laugh with this scumbag at her expense. Sometimes he really hated his job.

...

Melissa Chester had been missing for 55 days before Tony found his way to the main house. He still had no idea who the Big Boss was; for all he'd found out, only 4 people in the whole country were aware of the man's identity; 5 if you counted Melissa Chester who was apparently forced to sleep with him; but at least he'd gotten some great information about the smaller groups and maybe after they rescued Melissa, they could at least stop the cartel if not bringing it down completely and arresting the main players.

And now, Tony was just about to meet one of those 4 people who knew the Boss and that was why he'd gone to the main house; Ed had asked him to make a special delivery for him to someone called 'Albina'.

"Mr. Mayer," A servant called his name after twenty minutes of keeping him waiting in the main hall, under the watchful eye of an armed guard, "Mrs. Vikhrov will see you now. If you please follow me."

 _'Virkhov?'_ Tony thought. Russian mobs were involved. _Damn._ Things had just gotten ten times worse. He should've guessed the name ' _Albina'_ could be Russian.

They walked along a long corridor and Tony tried his best to memorize every detail of the place without openly looking around. There were two doors to his right and one to the left and the last door which opened to a huge library was the one in which Albina Vikhrov was waiting for him.

The woman behind a big mahogany desk studied him with attentive eyes before nodding her head towards the servant, dismissing him. "Mister Mayer." She said with a clear Russian accent.

Tony put a small grin at the corner of his mouth and let his eyes descend to her large breasts for a second. "Mrs. Vikhrov." He said without even trying to pronounce the name correctly. "Excuse my pronunciation." He smiled sweetly as he looked the woman in the eye.

"Maybe you should just call me Albina?" She smiled seductively, unable to control her eyes from traveling down to Tony's broad chest and then going lower and stopping on his private parts. "It is much easier." She added after a few seconds of assessing Tony's body. He was clad in a tight T-shirt and a pair of jeans and with his stubble and his hair combed back, he looked way wilder than he did while clean-shaven and in one of his suits.

"Well, then you should call me just Ben." Tony pushed his left hand into his jeans' pocket and stood in a way that suggested he was interested in whatever she had in mind.

"I like just Ben." She laughed and stood up from behind her desk and sashayed towards Tony, putting two fingers with long nails on Tony's cheek. "Tell me, is there a Mrs. Mayer?"

Tony was a bit surprised she was so quick in making a move, but he didn't want to look the gift horse in the mouth; this could be his chance to find his way into that house. "Straight to the point, huh? I love that in a woman."

Albina laughed. "So?"

"Why? You wouldn't want to hurt her feelings?"

"I just want to know if I need to send someone to get rid of her." She answered bluntly and Tony felt cold inside. She was openly telling him that she'd always get what she wanted and that she wasn't afraid of killing people for it. And she was clearly showing him that she was the one calling the shots in that situation.

"Hey, that's my hypothetical wife you're talking about." Tony protested nonetheless and then smirked. "I should be the one to do the getting rid of. Not a total stranger."

At that, Albina's eyes widened slightly and she suddenly burst into laughter and walked towards the couch, sitting on its arm, making her short and tight skirt slip up; she watched delightfully as the man before her eyed her thighs hungrily.

"I like you Ben."

"I like you, too, Albina."

"Oh, you cannot even say my first name correctly." She shook her head. "It's not Albina. It's Alebina." She pronounced it with the correct Russian accent.

"Alebina?" Tony frowned. "But you still write it like Albina?"

"In English yes." She nodded her head.

"Hmm, I like Alebina better. It's... Sexier."

"Don't stand just there. Come on, sit here with me."

"I don't know. I was told you're a busy woman and I shouldn't take too much of your time. Just to deliver this," he held up a package, "and then leave."

"I do have time for a man with this look and a body in this shape." She slowly moved her right hand up and down pointing at Tony's body.

Tony smirked wolfishly. "Did I mention I like your oh-so-direct approach?"

Ablina laughed again. "Did I mention I like how you flirt?" She slid down from the arm of the couch and sank into it. "Why do you not sit here with me and hand me my package?"

Tony complied and as he went to put the package in her hand he deliberately let the back of his fingers touch her thighs.

.

.

Two hours later, Tony was back to his room in Ed's place and the first thing he did was to take a long hot shower. He'd slept with many women, but to sleep with such a dirty criminal disgusted him to no end.

On his way to his current residence, he'd stopped at a cafe, used the bathroom, bought a black coffee and left.

While he'd been there, the woman behind the counter studied him worriedly and sent a quick text to someone, as another customer went to the bathroom with his newspaper under his arm and left two minutes later.

Back at the Navy Yard, Gibbs received a call. "Talk, McGee." He barked.

"Boss, I'm sending you Tony's report. Check your email." McGee said and from what Gibbs could hear, he could say that the younger man was typing something. "Oh, and, Boss, Bishop informed me that Tony ordered a black coffee. A small one, though."

"Damn." Gibbs cursed tersely.

Black coffee wasn't a code per se, but it showed that Tony was again struggling with some emotional issues and was letting them know that although the operation wasn't going south, something was bothering him deeply.

Once Gibbs read Tony's report, he knew and could totally understand why he'd been in a bad mood again.

The last four times that Tony had ordered black coffee, he'd asked for large ones and things had been really messy all those times. Once, it was after he'd been forced to cooperate in abducting two men and the other three times the black coffee had been related to drug dealing.

Gibbs really wished there was some way to comfort his agent and knew that after this frustrating operation was over, his whole team would need an extended leave of absence and even _he_ would take some time off to take care of Tony; because they all knew the toll on the Senior Field Agent was too heavy and he was, once again, making sacrifices to see this operation through.

And again, the younger man had gone and ordered a black coffee and for a good reason, clearly, if the brief and to the point report was anything to go by.

Apparently Tony had finally found his way to the main house and had found a way to get deeper, but at a personal cost.

The Lead Agent just hoped that the whole thing turned out alright and Tony's sacrifices didn't go to waste.

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	2. Chapter 2

Biting the inside of his cheek, Tony mentally prepared himself for the ' _meeting_ ' that Albina had requested - _demanded?_ -, knowing what exactly the woman was looking forward to.

Man, she had no limits; after the first week, Tony had gone back to the house every day and recently he was there almost all the time.

Thankfully, a few days back, she'd finally said that they couldn't meet him for a few days because she had some private business that needed her immediate attention and boy, had Tony been relieved.

He needed a break from her and her unending lust. He just needed to get away for a while; he was disgusted and sick of playing that role, but other than personal reasons, he knew he had to somehow report to Gibbs and it wasn't easy when he was always at the house.

That was why when he heard Albina was back and was asking for him, he'd contacted Gibbs and they had both agreed that it'd be better if Tony wore a watch with a transmitter and a hidden microphone, so if he had to stay at the house, he could somehow contact them. He'd keep the radio off; unless he was sure it was safe to turn it on.

This time, Tony had decided that he'd find Melissa, come hell or high water; because not only was he feeling drained, he knew Melissa couldn't suffer any longer. So he had to risk a few things in order to find her and get her out.

Since they weren't sure when Tony could actually act, the backup team only included Gibbs, McGee and Bishop for the moment, and they weren't far from the house, although Tony doubted they could find a way inside that easily with all the entrances being heavily guarded and all the security.

"Ben! Why are you so late?" Albina called from the couch when Tony walked into her bedroom. She was wearing a red, silk robe and with her fingers, she was playing with her collar, pulling it down to show what was underneath.

Tony tilted his head and studied her, refusing to answer her question, knowing that the way he was looking at her was enough to make her forget that he'd been three minutes late.

"Ahh, do not waste any more time. Come here." She pushed her body forward and reached a hand towards Tony who obediently took it and pulled her up and started to kiss her hungrily.

Forty five minutes later, they were lying on their backs in her bed, panting and laughing with no real reason. Tony's laughter, admittedly, was all fake and as strained as he dared around the Russian Mob boss.

"Wow." She laughed. "I could do this forever." She announced with her special accent.

"I gotta teach you some new phrases." Tony teased and turned around to put his arm around her naked body.

"No. No. Not anymore." She pushed his hand away. "I need to get back to work. We are waiting for something special tonight."

"O yeah?" Tony grinned widely. "More special than this?" He looked down at his own naked body making her laugh with delight.

"Special in a different way." She bent forward and kissed Tony's lips. "I do not want to go, Ben. But I have to." She then pushed herself up. "Why do you not clean yourself in the bathroom and then sleep some. We can continue this when I come back."

"You don't get tired, do you?"

"Do _you_?" She narrowed her eyes.

Tony snorted. "Of that body?" He nodded towards Albina. "Never."

"Good. I would not like to show you what I do when people get tired of me."

"People get tired of you?" Tony hid his shiver as he plastered a look of mock shock on his face. "What kind of people? Idiots?"

Albina laughed easily and turned her back to Tony for him to zip her up. "I like how you flirt."

 _'I hate how I do it.'_ Tony clenched his jaw and said nothing. Instead, he ran his fingers under Albina's hair and touched her neck.

"Do not do that." Albina pulled away. "Or I will not be able to go and then _you_ will be in trouble."

"Trouble, huh?"

Albina rolled her eyes and shook her head with laughter.

"Maybe I can come with you." Tony said tentatively. Maybe now that he was here, he could get more than Melissa; maybe he could bring these bastards down for good.

"Stay here." Albina said firmly and left the room.

Sighing, Tony dropped his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. This operation was taking too long. It was almost two month since the whole thing had come to their attention and he still hadn't found Melissa. Gibbs never pushed him, but with the questions he kept asking whenever they had a chance to meet secretly, Tony could say that the Admiral and Vance were breathing down his neck and he knew everyone was worried about Melissa. He himself was worried about her and knew he had to find her sooner rather than later.

Pushing all the weariness aside, Tony moved his body away from the bed and collected his clothes that were scattered all around the room.

Without wasting any time to shower, he sneaked out of the room, wary of the cameras that were controlling the corridors. During the days that he'd spent in that house, he'd kept his eyes and ears open and knew where every camera was and now he could guess where he might find Melissa.

There was one corridor at the other side of the house that he'd never gone to, but he'd seen servants carrying trays of food to that corridor and although he had no way to know which room the food was taken to, he was pretty sure if the girl was being kept there, she'd be in one of the rooms on that side of the house.

Quickly, he found his way towards the other hallway and checked rooms after rooms. The fourth room on the right side turned out to be what he was looking for.

The moment he opened the door and his eyes landed on Melissa Chester sprawled on the bed, his breath caught in his throat. The girl looked tired; she didn't look battered or pale, in fact she looked good and healthy, but even in her sleep it was clear she was tired and Tony didn't want to think why it was.

Walking to the bed, he quietly sat down on its edge and shook her shoulder gently, keeping an eye on the door of the room that he'd quietly closed behind him.

Melissa's eyes opened and they instantly went wide; but before she could open her mouth to scream, Tony put his palm over her mouth and kept her quiet. "Hey, Hey. Calm down. It's OK. I'm not here to hurt you."

When Melissa nodded her head, Tony slowly removed his hand from her mouth.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The girl asked.

"Melissa Chester?" Tony asked instead of answering her question; he'd seen her pictures and knew who she was, but he needed to ask her anyway.

Melissa frowned and pushed herself up from the bed. "Yes and who are _you_?"

"Don't worry. I'm here to get you out of here."

"Get me out of here?" She scorned. "You?"

"Yes, I'm a Federal Agent. We've been looking for you ever since you've gone missing. But don't worry, you're gonna be fine."

When Melissa didn't react right away and then tilted her head and just studied Tony, the agent felt that something was very wrong. "You're a Fed, huh?" She smirked.

And at that moment Tony realized what exactly was wrong with that picture and suddenly everything started falling into place. The door to her room had not been locked and she didn't look hurt or upset; she wasn't a prisoner. She wasn't being kept there against her will; she'd never gone missing. She'd been in it all along. And damn, Tony'd just blown his cover for her.

Closing his eyes briefly, Tony smiled tiredly and shook his head. "And everyone thought you were a victim." He sighed and suddenly, with no warning, he put his hand over her mouth again and pushed her down to the bed, using his body to keep her down until she lost consciousness; but that didn't happen before she successfully reached out and pushed a button under the nightstand near her bed and it was enough of indication for Tony to know he was screwed.

It was time to get away from that hell hole. The mission was over.

Walking quietly, but quickly out of her room, Tony passed the hallways and walked towards the main exit. When he reached the main hall and saw a couple of armed guards walking towards him, he quickly backtracked and jumped into the first room he found. He knew he couldn't fool them and get away, Melissa had alarmed them, which meant if they got their hands on him, they wouldn't ask for an explanation.

The room he'd entered had no other way out and Tony knew he'd be dead if he didn't contact Gibbs; he might end up dead anyway, even if he did contact Gibbs, but at least he'd get some words out and give his team a lead.

So, instead of trying to run away from armed guards, he figured it was better if he found a way to contact his backup. When he was sure the door to the room was locked, he pressed a button on his watch and held it near his mouth. "Gibbs. My cover is blown. I repeat. My cover is blown. The girl is in it. You got me? Melissa Chester is one of them."

"I got to her." He decided to give them as much as he could now that he couldn't hear their response. "But she's one of them and she buzzed them in on me before I could stop her." He jumped slightly when a few bullets hit the door of the room and the fact that he hadn't heard anything, showed that they were using silencer.

He knew he didn't have much time. "Don't have much time left. They're already here." He then went silent for a moment and then spoke in a quiet voice, "I hid a flash drive in my room in Ed's place. Get to it. You hear me? It's a small one and it's glued behind the mirror in the bathroom. Hid it there last night; couldn't find a way to get it to you. There's enough information on it to bring down some of these bastards." He swallowed when the door busted open and armed men walked in. "Guess that's it." He said with a dazzling smile on his face. "My escort is here."

.

Outside, in the van, the moment Gibbs heard Tony's voice informing them about his cover having been blown, he and his two agents jumped out of the vehicle, rushing towards the house.

All along, he cursed himself for not bringing a TAC team with him; for not thinking how fast things could go wrong. They didn't even have a warrant to get inside and it'd probably backfire in their faces later, because they had no reason to rush inside, no gun had been fired, no sound of commotion had been heard; they'd had nothing, but he wasn't going to let them get their hands on Tony.

He still had Tony's voice as they approached the house; the next things Tony said made him feel like he'd been hit with freezing water. _Melissa Chester was part of this?_ They'd wasted so much time and had put Tony's life in danger for a girl who'd been involved with organ dealers. He wanted to shoot the girl. Admiral's granddaughter or not.

And then Tony talked about the flash drive and then... Then they heard Tony's last words before the connection was lost.

They had Tony and he hadn't been able to do a thing about it.

They'd, of course, yelled ' _NCIS_ ' and _'Federal Agent'_ and showed their guns and badges, and had run into the house, but by the time they got there, they were surrounded by armed men, preventing them from passing the main hall.

"Do you have a warrant, Agent?" One of them that seemed like their Commanding Officer asked with a steely tone. "Because if you don't, you'll leave this place right away or I'll call the cops and you'll be in tons of trouble."

Muffled sound of commotion coming from the other side of the house caught Gibbs' attention and he was about to push his way inside, knowing that his agents would follow him, when a gun was pushed into his face.

"Stop right there or I'll shoot you and your people." Another man sneered.

Swallowing hard, Gibbs knew that it was not an empty threat. He didn't care about himself, but McGee and Bishop were there with him and he was responsible for them. Closing his eyes, he brought his gun down; feeling like he'd failed Tony.

The house was now all quiet and by the time they were escorted out, it was like there'd never been an intrusion.

Outside, Gibbs felt so broken that he wanted to just slide down a wall and never move again; McGee and Ellie didn't look better. In fact, they both looked like they were going to be sick any moment, or pass out from shock; whichever happened first.

But Gibbs wasn't going to give up on Tony; he wasn't going to waste the precious time he knew they didn't have.

Grabbing his phone he called Vance and curtly explained the situation and then said, "I want a search warrant, now... Leon, I don't care who the hell you have to wake up at this hour or whose ass you have to kiss, I want a warrant and I want it NOW. We're in this mess because the Admiral's granddaughter is a damn dealer and I'm not going to lose my best agent because of her."

Without waiting for an answer he ended the call.

"Boss?" McGee still sounded shaky, but he sure looked more collected. "Seems like a black van just left the other gate of the house." He was checking the monitors in their surveillance van.

They all knew what that meant.

Turning to Bishop, Gibbs said, "Stay in the van and watch the house; inform me if anyone leaves. Another team will be here in a few minutes." Walking to his car, he called out. "McGee, with me."

"You got the plate number?" He asked as he drove the car towards the way the van could've taken.

"No, it was too dark, but I sent a picture of it to Abby to clear it out."

Despite the fact that they hadn't wasted a second, they never found that black van, which meant, for the moment, they had no idea where Tony was being taken to, especially since it was clear that Tony's watch had been destroyed; for the moment, they'd lost Tony and with what they already knew about those previous undercover agents from the FBI, it was clear that every minute counted.

"What, Leon?" Gibbs answered his phone as it started to ring.

"Gibbs, report!"

"What happened to that warrant?" He asked instead.

"I don't care what you think of me at this moment, Gibbs, but I can't bring out a warrant out of nowhere. It takes time and I'm working on it. Are you sure about Melissa Chester?"

"Are you saying that DiNozzo didn't know what he was talking about?" Gibbs growled as he pulled over and hit the steering wheel. He'd lost his agent and had no idea how to get him back.

"Calm down, Agent Gibbs. You know what I mean." Vance said in clipped tones. "I mean is there any chance he'd been mistaken?"

"Zero."

"Admiral Chester won't be happy."

"I don't give a shit about the Admiral. It's because of his corrupt family that my agent is missing."

Right then, Vance decided that he'd meet the Admiral alone. "Keep me posted." He hung up before Gibbs could growl anything else. He was just as worried as Gibbs was and wanted to do anything possible to get his agent back. Failing wasn't an option. Not at NCIS. He wouldn't let the history of the FBI repeat itself in his agency.

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	3. Chapter 3

4\. 18. 23.

Those numbers were important.

...

Because now, it was four days, 18 hours and 23 minutes that Gibbs hadn't heard his SFA's voice; it was longer that he hadn't _seen_ him; but four days, 18 hours and 23... Make that 24; 24 minutes was a long time to not have even heard about him and to know that he was at the mercy of some sick bastards who were most probably torturing him and at the end would sell his vital organs.

The warrant that'd finally come the morning following DiNozzo's capture did them no good. The huge house was empty expect for the servants and some of the guards. Even Melissa Chester was gone and even though they'd searched every hole, they'd found nothing. They'd even taken samples of everything, but the house had clearly been wiped clean.

The Admiral had been devastated when he heard the news about his granddaughter and he'd outright refused to accept the truth behind what they were saying. He still thought they'd been mistaken; but Tony's last message was clear, so Vance refused to look for her any longer.

Their first priority had changed to find and rescue Agent DiNozzo.

The Admiral had been furious, taking his complains to the SecNav, but Sarah Porter had already been informed of the situation and to her the evidence was enough to believe the girl wasn't missing or held captive; she assured the Admiral that they'd find his granddaughter and would investigate her alleged involvement, but for now they had to trust their agent and treat the situation with more caution; they couldn't afford to lose another agent.

The only thing that the MCRT had managed to do during the last four days was a raid on Ed's place to arrest anyone who was there and collect the flash drive that Tony'd mentioned in his last message. Just as he'd said, there was enough information to bust the drug ring that Ed was running and to bring down a few more of them who were involved in the big show. But there was almost nothing on the big Boss or his four trusties.

The BOLO that they'd put on the van, which had left the house with what they believed had been their agent, hadn't turned out anywhere and all in all, they had nothing.

DiNozzo was missing and not just the MCRT but everyone else around them was a mess. It was like everyone who worked in that building had been replaced by their pod; their very somber, gloomy pod.

It was just Gibbs and his two agents, plus Abby who were still following the case and were trying to find a way to rescue Tony; the rest couldn't stop everything and refuse to work on any other cases until Tony was found, but it didn't mean agents from other teams didn't steal glances at Tony's desk every time they passed their area or that they weren't in touch with their own informants to see if there was any signs of DiNozzo.

Even the FBI had been informed and was looking into things.

Some FBI agents were mostly angry because they believed that if NCIS hadn't been obsessed with rescuing one single girl, DiNozzo could probably bring down the whole cartel and save many more lives. And if you asked Gibbs, especially now that he was aware of Melissa's true identity, he'd agree with that notion. Maybe if they hadn't been obsessed with one single captive and had focused on the whole picture, they'd still know where Tony was and could even keep his cover intact after finishing the operation.

But Gibbs wasn't one to think about the past when there were still hopes to save his man; nor did he have the time to sit there and wallow in despair and remorse.

He was determined to find his agent and nothing could stop him. Nothing!

The only thing was that he couldn't lie to himself and pretend like he wasn't worried sick. He had no doubt that they'd find Tony, he just didn't know in what condition the younger man would be when they did and that scared him more than anything.

.

.

One moment, Tony's whole world was on fire, the next it was freezing cold. It'd been like that for ages now, or well, it felt like ages to Tony; in reality it was probably just a day or two that it'd gotten that bad.

But the point was that now his shoulders were screaming with pain, as they had been forced to bear the weight of his whole body for a long time. He'd been hanging from his wrists for almost four days and would be brought down only for a few minutes each day for a bathroom break. Yes, surprisingly, _and thankfully_ , his torturers didn't like the smell of urine, so they'd let him use a urinal twice a day.

They clearly didn't mind the smell of blood, though. Because his cell stank of blood and it made even him sick and if it wasn't for the fact that during the last four or five days he hadn't taken anything but water, he'd puke all over himself and the floor under his dangling feet.

Albina wouldn't have been happy about it, for sure. Maybe that's why they didn't feed him; they didn't want him to get sick; that was probably the perk of having a woman in charge of your torture. They didn't like filth and as furious as Albina was with him, and as cruel as she was, she still was a woman and didn't like the smell of puke or urine. The only problem was that she seemed to be getting high on the smell and sight of blood. Well, blood _and_ burnt flesh, apparently.

The last four days had been hell for Tony. Simple as that; because don't they say that hell is an eternity of torture and fire?

The thing was that Tony was almost happy with it, as long as they didn't start cutting him open to take his organs out.

Torture, he could take, losing a heart, he most definitely couldn't! As long as they just tortured him out of anger and revenge, Tony could hope that Gibbs would eventually find him alive.

Belting, scorching fire iron on his skin, punches and lost fingernails were nothing compared to what he knew was ahead of him. He, of course, could do without any of those things, but what's done is done. All those things had already happened to him; he was sure that aside from the broken skin on his back as a result of being whipped, burn marks on his arms and chest and neck, lost fingernails on both his hands and lots and lots of bruises, he definitely had some broken ribs and fingers as well and if the hot pain running through his shoulders was anything to go by, his shoulders were already dislocated, as well.

Still when the door banged open and Albina and her three men walked into the room, followed by Melissa Chester, Tony wished they'd just continue his torture the way they'd been doing the last few days. He wished they wouldn't bring him down from where he was hanging, but they did. He had to bite down his lower lip hard, drawing blood from it when his arms and shoulders screamed in agony. He could hardly feel his hands, but what scared him was the fact that he could see that Melissa had brought with herself a kit and was opening it on the table beside the surgical bed on the other side of the room.

Albina just stared at him and didn't produce a word; it'd been like that the whole time. No one said a word to him and no one asked for a thing. It was like they didn't care what he'd found out about them or maybe they just knew the main members of the group and the bosses were safe. Besides, he apparently wasn't going to ever leave that room alive, so whatever he had on them would either die with him or had already gotten out, so it didn't matter whether he talked or not.

The torture was merely to teach him some lessons, not to make him talk. It was to inflict agony to teach him that _'children shouldn't play with fire'_ , as one of them had so eloquently put it the first day. After that, no one had said a word to him, no matter how much he taunted them. Even Albina hadn't said a thing to all his taunting and belittling and secretly, Tony praised her a little for that; not many people could stand being insulted like that; especially when their sex habits got mocked.

After a couple of days, Tony gave up on talking, as well. He'd decided that he needed to save his energy and had told himself that as long as he kept his scream stifled, he'd won the game, because one thing he was sure of was that they wanted to hear his screams of pain.

When he was pulled to the bed, with the headrest slightly up, and was strapped to it, with both arms above his head, he couldn't help the shiver that ran through his body as his eyes landed on the surgical instruments under Melissa's hands. He had really wished this part wouldn't come and that Gibbs would come to his rescue before it happened; but apparently he'd run out of luck this time.

He still kept his mouth shut, though when Melissa injected him in the neck with a yellowish liquid and little by little he started to feel numb from the neck down. It was a good feeling if he was honest with himself; after enduring so much pain for so long, he had to welcome the numbness, especially since the way he'd been positioned wasn't easy on his battered back, ribs and shoulders.

Next, an IV line was inserted in his arm, making him blink with surprise.

"We do not want you dead just yet." It was the first time Albina had spoken a word in his presence during the last few days. "I want you conscious when we take your organs out. I want you to watch and see how your spleen looks outside your body. Your kidneys. Your lungs." She gave a sick smirk.

"My lungs?" Tony couldn't help but snort. "Sorry to shatter your hopes, but you can't sell them. They're badly scarred and damaged."

Both Albina and Melissa frowned.

"You are not a smoker." Albina said after a second.

"No, but I've had the plague." Tony grinned triumphantly. He'd never thought he'd actually appreciate having encountered that disease. He laughed when he saw the skeptical look on their faces. "You don't believe me, huh? Can't blame you. It's not every day that someone can get a disease from the Dark Ages. But hey, go ahead and check my medical history."

"No need for that." Albina shrugged mischievously. "We will see it when we open you up."

"Besides, there are so many other parts that can be sold." Melissa pointed out.

"Wow. You're really into this thing, aren't you?" Tony said bemusedly. "I bet Grandpa Admiral will be delighted to know her lovely Melissa is such a vicious beast." He added sarcastically.

The backhand to his face proved his point about women not taking insult easily and he felt just ten times better knowing he'd found a sore spot and had hurt her.

Albina grabbed Melissa's hand and glared at her.

The younger woman pulled her hand away and sneered at Tony. "I'll make sure to send your Boss your _'damaged lungs'_ in a box." She'd looked into things and knew who Tony worked for and how close they were.

Tony winced inwardly, knowing it'd destroy Gibbs if it came to that; and as much as it sucked to be dead _-and to die the way he was going to_ -, he really didn't want to be Gibbs when he received that box.

He was a little bit upset that his boss hadn't found him yet, but he didn't blame him or anyone else, knowing that they must've tried their best; and he didn't want the older man to go through something as terrible as receiving organs of his dead agent.

Hiding his feelings, Tony concentrated on the present moment. "You do know that nobody pays for a spleen, right?" He said when he realized they were aiming for that organ at that moment; desperately trying to find a way to stall them.

"Yes. Taking it will teach you a lesson, though." Melissa smirked and right after that, she grabbed a scalpel and brought it down to Tony's upper left abdomen and with a little push, the skin opened and a very small river of blood started to flow.

Despite his fear, Tony couldn't avert his eyes from the scene; he was completely mesmerized. It was happening; it was really happening; they were cutting him open and he was watching the whole thing. They were about to get his spleen out and he was frigging numb and couldn't do a damn thing about it. He couldn't even open his mouth anymore to make a sound. He was literally shocked into silence.

"You fucking bastards! Leave me alone." Despite his momentary shock and his resort to stay silent, he suddenly found himself shouting when he saw she started to dig in like he was a lab animal.

Albina's delighted laughter silenced him instantly, though; making him realize that he'd actually voiced his fear. _Damn_ , he'd promised himself not to give them that satisfaction, but it was scaring him shitless to witness what they were doing to him.

He'd seen so many gory scenes during his days; heck, he'd been present in many of Ducky's autopsies, but they'd been on dead people and most importantly, none of them had been performed on _him_. He didn't even like watching it being done on a third party, even though he knew he could stand it; but that wasn't the case at that moment. At that moment, he was the target and he was so scared that he couldn't even close his eyes to not see the performance; it was truly surreal.

He'd shiver if he wasn't paralyzed from the neck down, but he broke out in cold sweat the more he watched and little by little he felt dizzy and the dizziness had nothing to do with the blood loss; after all, Melissa and her assistant knew what they were doing; he wasn't losing that much blood.

"Look close, Agent DiNozzo." Melissa glanced at him and smirked when she saw how white he'd become. "Basin." She asked her assistant.

The moment his spleen was out in Melissa's hands, being squeezed, Tony knew he was going to be sick; the sight of that thing, coming out of his body made him so dizzy that despite the drug in his system, he turned whiter, then green and then he felt the bile rose in his throat. Clearly someone else had seen it, too, because a moment later something soft with a suspicious smell was pushed against his nose and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he knew nothing more.

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty sure this was the worst of it; sorry about the gory description, but seriously, it was needed; how else was I supposed to show what Tony'd gone through?!


	4. Chapter 4

Meanwhile, Gibbs was trying to get some shut eye on Ducky's couch, because he couldn't go home when he knew what could be happening to his agent. But even the couple of hours of sleep that he'd been able to take two nights ago, seemed like a vague memory right now. His gut was churning so bad that Gibbs wanted to throw up. He knew something bad was happening and the knowledge that he'd no power or way to stop it was driving him crazy.

Giving up on sleep, he went back to the bullpen and started to go through everything one more time; checking the BOLO; going through what they had; willing to find something; anything.

Right then the elevator dinged and the moment the doors opened, a hysterical Abby ran into the bullpen.

Upon seeing her white face, Gibbs jumped from his seat and strode to her quickly. "Abby. What's wrong?" He was afraid she'd heard something; it was unlikely that she'd hear anything before him, but he still couldn't deny the possibility.

Abby's eyes were red rimmed and she was still crying heavily and even Gibbs' hug didn't seem to bring her any comfort.

"Abby, talk to me." Gibbs whispered in her right ear. "What's wrong? Have you heard anything?"

He felt Abby shake her head against his chest and then heard a muffled ' _No'_.

"No? Then what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He was confused; if she hadn't heard something about Tony, then what could mess her up so bad?

"I had a nightmare." She finally opened up. "Oh, Gibbs. Gibbs, Gibbs." She sobbed harder. "Tony. They were... O my God, Gibbs."

 _'A nightmare?'_ Gibbs felt like his lungs started to function properly again as he marginally relaxed. _'Nightmares and dreams were OK. At least they weren't reality.'_

Apparently Abby felt that Gibbs wasn't so tense anymore, because she pulled away and looked him in the eyes, "You don't understand, Gibbs. There was blood and Tony was on his back and his stomach was open and... And-" Her breath hitched.

Gibbs cringed. That was something that they were all afraid of. It might just be a nightmare at the moment, but there was no guarantee that it hadn't really happened or wouldn't happen in the near future.

"His eyes were open, Gibbs." Abby buried her head in his chest again and Gibbs' arms circled around her one more time; trying to soothe her, while he himself was feeling shook up. Not because of how vivid and scary her dream had been; no, he was shook up because based on the evidence and other victims, the things Abby was saying wasn't far from reality. The problem was they hadn't given her a report of those autopsies. She couldn't have known about them; so how could she know that it was actually a possibility and then dream about it?

"I dreamed about Kate's death, too. Remember?" She looked up, desperately begging her surrogate father to fix things and stop the pain and suffering that Tony was clearly going through.

Gibbs swallowed and closed his eyes. Abby had told him about her dream before Kate's death and now she had nightmares concerning Tony; nightmares that sounded terrifyingly close to what they knew could happen to any victim of that case; especially one that they were angry with.

No; Tony couldn't be going through that. He didn't deserve it. Nobody did; but Tony was his first priority at the moment.

He almost wanted to cry with Abby; but he had to be strong. Kissing her forehead, Gibbs led her to Tony's chair; knowing the area would help her calm down. "I'll find him."

Abby stared at him with wide eyes and after some long moments, she finally nodded and turned her head down. She then opened a cabinet, drew out Tony's go bag and pulled a shirt out of it, putting it on without taking her own blouse off.

Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her head between her knees, trying to find some comfort in that familiar shirt; feeling like she was being hugged by Tony.

.

Like every other night since Tony'd gone missing, both Ellie and McGee showed up at work around five in the morning, not looking any better than the night before; 5 hours of supposed rest was nowhere near enough and it was clear that they hadn't actually slept; how could they when they were worried about their teammate? They'd just leave the office around midnight because they knew sometimes a little time and space would help them seeing things they'd missed before.

They saw Abby sleeping with her head on Tony's desk with Tony's shirt on. They exchanged a sad look and quietly went to their desks to start another long day, silently praying that this day they would finally find something to end the heartache and pain.

.

.

What brought Tony back, hours later, was an argument between the two women responsible for his misery. It took him a few moments to remember where he was but when he did, he immediately stiffened, but didn't open his eyes.

"His body can't take another shock so soon." Melissa sounded annoyed.

"And why should we care?" The accented voice of Albina came next.

"Albina, despite everything, we still want his heart intact. They've offered a really good price for it and you know it. Besides, the longer it takes, the harder it'll be on his mental state."

Melissa's reasoning sounded really crooked, but Tony still preferred it to the alternative, knowing that it'd give him some more time.

"He is strong; I am sure he can take it. It will be just his kidney." Seemed like Albina hadn't been convinced, though.

 _'My Kidney. O God, no. No. No. No. No!'_ Tony thought frantically.

He couldn't deal with another surgery like the last one. Not again. No. Not his Kidney. Not anything else. He just couldn't. Where was the damn cavalry? Why didn't this hellish nightmare end? He couldn't take it any longer. He couldn't.

He hadn't realized it himself, but he'd started to hyperventilate and when a needle entered his arm and something was injected into his blood stream, he was grateful for the dark abyss that swallowed him moments later.

"Give him a few more hours before the procedure. I want him awake and aware of what is happening to him." Albina sounded annoyed when she said that before storming out of the cell.

.

.

It was 20.38 when Agent Glass, Senior Field Agent of another team, ran into Gibbs' area and stood in front of Gibbs' desk. "Agent Gibbs! I just heard from one of my informants that he's spotted the van you've been looking for."

Gibbs was instantly on his feet. "You sure about that?"

"Well, the color is different, but the number seems right." Glass looked down at a paper in his hand and read the plate number that his informants had given him.

"It matches." McGee announced from his desk.

"Where was it seen last?" It was worth checking; it sure was better than what they had 5 minutes ago, which was nothing!

"Near a drugstore in Silver Spring." Glass informed the other man. "I got him to follow the van and he just called me back and told me that it's entered into a house in Sligo Avenue. I'll send the coordination to McGee's phone."

"Let's go." Gibbs ordered his team and then looked back at Agent Glass. "Is your team busy with anything right now?"

"We'll be right behind you." He announced and ran back to his area to let his team leader know what was happening and get his team ready to follow the MCRT.

Gibbs called Vance on his way to the car and filled him in on everything he'd heard so far and Vance told him that another team would be also sent their way, plus an ambulance, of course. He'd ended the call with a curt _'Bring him home, Gibbs.'_

.

.

The next time, they didn't even strap Tony to the table.

He was lying on his left side, almost face down; his other side and back exposed to the scalpel in Melissa's hand and Tony was sure if he hadn't been drugged again, he'd be in a world of pain since there was a lot of pressure on his most recent incision over where his spleen used to be.

The thought of his spleen out of his body and in Melissa's grip once again brought bile to his throat; but surprisingly, he was able to swallow it down this time.

Right now, he was worried about his kidney; the only consolation was that there was no way he could see what was happening to him this time, even though he was sure that those sadistic, sick psychos would show it to him once it was out of his body. But the numbness of his body had apparently seeped into his brain, as well; because he didn't feel anything anymore.

He tried to tell himself that he hadn't given up yet, but he couldn't deny that he wasn't all that hopeful, either.

At that moment, he felt like this was it for him and he silently thanked everything holy, that they had, at least, drugged him before ripping him apart. They hadn't done so to do _him_ a favor, of course; the pain and strain of those surgeries if performed without the right amount of anesthetic and drug, could lead him to shock and cardiac arrest and they wanted his heart intact; but it still was good to know he wouldn't feel any physical pain. Emotional one didn't matter much, anymore. If he was going to die, then nightmares and emotional scars meant absolutely nothing; _the positive side of being dead;_ he supposed.

He just hated the thought of having to watch them pulling out his liver and heart in a few hours. That sure wasn't something he liked to look forward to; although he wasn't sure he'd be really alert enough to know what was happening to him at that point.

"You ready?" Melissa's voice penetrated his thoughts. "You'll see your own kidney in a few minutes. You should thank me, you know?" She said as she pushed the scalpel against his skin and made an incision. "Not many people have the opportunity to see how their insides actually look like. I'm letting you know that before drawing your last breath." She added so casually that it sounded like she was just talking about the weather.

"I hope someone gives _you_ that opportunity soon." Tony retorted coldly and it scared him a little bit when he realized he'd meant it wholeheartedly; and to think this had been the girl he'd put his life in line for to save!

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	5. Chapter 5

"I gotta say, you're one healthy man. So fit. Your organs are in such good shapes." Melissa continued, ignoring Tony's retort. "I mean, your spleen... Man! The picture of a healthy one. Now, let's see how your kidney is, shall we?" She snickered and went to divide the muscle over the ribs and the said organ when the sound of commotion from upstairs broke into the silence of the room.

Exchanging a look with her assistant, she motioned for him to go and check out what was wrong as she continued her work.

Tony's heartbeat had elevated as he, too, had heard the noises coming from outside and he felt hope racing through his veins again. Was it possible that his team was finally there? Could that mean...

The door to the room banged open and familiar shouts of _'drop your weapon'_ and ' _NCIS_ ' filled the room. Usually Tony was one of those who shouted those words, but he had to admit it felt just as good hearing it.

"Stay away from him." Gibbs' angry yell made Melissa drop the knife in her hand and as the man beside her turned his own knife towards Tony to finish him, three shots rang out and bullets landed in his chest and head, stopping him from doing anything irreversible.

It was only then that Gibbs' mind finally registered what was happening to Tony right in the middle of that room.

Had he been one to show his shock with words, he would've spat something along the lines of _'holy shit!'_

That, of course, was taken care of by McGee, a few moments later, as he cuffed Melissa Chester and finally turned his eyes to the man on the table and saw what Gibbs had seen a few seconds earlier.

Ellie, once she saw the scene, turned green and ran out of the room to probably throw up. It really wasn't something she'd ever want to see again.

Gibbs was instantly by Tony's side, struggling to find a way to close the open wound.

"Don't." Tony's faint voice managed to visibly startle Leroy Jethro Gibbs; something that had never happened in the history of universe.

"To- Tony?" Gibbs knelt down near Tony's head and looking down, he saw Tony's glazed eyes open and staring at the floor.

"Goddammit! McGee, get the medics here. NOW." He shouted and put his hand on the back of Tony's head, massaging it gently. "We're here, Tony. It's over. You're gonna be alright. Just hang in there. You hear me?"

"Not dead, Boss." Tony sighed quietly, "In fact, with the amount of drugs in my system, I'm not even in pain." Tony's voice was weak, but calm and steady.

Gibbs looked at Tony's back and involuntarily, his hand clenched around Tony's neck.

"Is... Umm, has she-" Tony swallowed with some difficulty; he wasn't sure how far she'd gone in. "My kidney?" He finally managed.

"Still in there, as far as I can tell." Gibbs replied quietly. But that made him think of something else; something that he really needed to know, even thought he was secretly afraid of the answer. "Did they... Anything else-"

"My spleen." Tony answered, sotto voce, knowing what Gibbs was trying to ask about. He closed his eyes and tried to swallow again.

"Damn." Gibbs closed his eyes in defeat, feeling like he'd failed his agent and that he'd done so, royally.

A couple of loud gasps kept Gibbs from saying anything else. Looking up, Gibbs found two other agents eyeing the scene before them with morbid awe and moments later, one of them swayed dangerously and ended up in a heap on the ground, causing his partner to turn his gaze away from Tony to take care of his half-conscious partner.

"You're gonna be alright, DiNozzo." Gibbs didn't waste any more time on the other agents. Pondering his next question, he asked, "Were you awake when-"

"Had a front row seat." Tony replied curtly.

"I'm sorry, Tony." Gibbs said quietly and uncharacteristically just as the medics rushed into the room. The only indication that they were shocked of what they were seeing, was a momentary halt in their movement which disappeared quickly as they rushed to Tony's side and started to attend to his open wound; it was a relief for Gibbs to see that the medics were at least professionals.

"He's conscious." Gibbs announced when he felt they might start saying things that'd spook his agent or set him off.

The paramedics' eyes widened, but they didn't comment on it.

"Umm, OK. In that case; hi, can you tell me your name?"

"Anthony DiNozzo." Tony replied quietly. "And I'm completely numb from the neck down." He informed them helpfully.

"Well, it's good to know you, Agent DiNozzo. I'm Lena. Anything special you think we should know?" She smiled even though Tony couldn't see her face.

"I've had the plague a few years ago. Oh and my spleen was taken out this morning. Or maybe last night. Not exactly sure about that." Tony reported monotonously.

Tony's mechanical tone of voice scared Gibbs, but what shook him more was that the younger man had gone through the previous procedure merely hours ago. Had they been quicker, or maybe luckier, they could've spared him the extra pain, scar and emotional toll.

Physically, Gibbs was pretty sure that Tony would heal with time, but mentally and emotionally, the younger man would, no doubt, have some problems later; as strong and determined as DiNozzo was, what he'd gone through was just... Well, there was no way that those things could be forgotten or ignored easily. He himself would have nightmares over it for sure and he hadn't even seen it happen. Tony, on the other hand, had seen it, felt it and apparently part of him had completely given up after it, if the way he sounded and looked was anything to go by.

Gibbs really wanted to get his hands on everyone who was responsible for the pain that had been inflicted on his friend and kill them slowly and painfully. Nobody deserved to go through something like that; but Tony deserved it even less since he'd just been trying to save a girl that they all thought had been a victim.

"Boss? Albina Vikhrov?" Tony's voice brought Gibbs' mind back to the present.

"One bullet between the eyes." Gibbs informed his agent, sounding rather proud of that accomplishment. "Three more to the chest. Didn't give her the chance to run away."

"Good. I want pictures." Tony said with that dead tone again; it wasn't like Tony to say things like that; but who could blame him after what he'd gone through?

"Agent DiNozzo," Lena addressed him. "We have the open wound on your side taken care of for now. We're now gonna turn you around and put you on a gurney. Alright?"

"OK."

"Be careful with his other wounds." Gibbs said, eyeing the wounds on the younger man's back which were clear signs of having been whipped.

Once the medics covered those wounds, they cautiously turned Tony on his back, and were even more shocked at the sight of his chest.

Even Gibbs took a couple of steps back to regain control of his emotion. A second later, he stepped forward again and grabbed Tony's forearm and squeezed it. "You're gonna be alright in no time."

Tony just eyed him and gave him a crooked smile. "Just make sure Melissa Chester will pay. At least I'm alive; those other people..." He trailed off.

"She won't get away with this. You have my word." Gibbs held Tony's gaze. "Even if the president himself vouches for her, I'll make sure she pays for this."

The medics covered Tony's body with a light blanket before taking him upstairs and to the waiting ambulance. There was no need for everyone else to see what had happened to him.

Upstairs, McGee was still trying to comfort a clearly perturbed Ellie, even though he himself wasn't looking much better. The two other agents that had seen Tony in the cell were nowhere to be seen and Gibbs guessed their team leader had sent them away. The others were busy processing the scenes.

"Take her back to the Navy Yard and call her husband to come and take care of her if it's needed." Gibbs ordered McGee. He then looked at another Supervisory Agent and said, "Alan-"

"I got it here." Alan James replied quickly. "Go with him." He then looked at Tony, whose eyes were half open, and smiled. "You alright, man?" That was a stupid question, but he felt that they all needed some semblance of normalcy.

Tony tried to smile, but it looked more like a faint wince. "Never better." He gave his usual answer.

"Get well, soon, Tony. The Navy Yard is not the same without you."

Tony wanted to smile and thank him, but he really couldn't find it in him, so he just lay there and closed his eyes as the medics took him to the ambulance.

Bishop and McGee were both looking at the gurney that was being loaded into the ambulance. "Boss-"

Gibbs just nodded his head, letting them know that he'd inform them of their friend's situation.

On the way to the hospital, Tony finally lost consciousness and Gibbs used that time to call Vance to give him a Sit-Rep.

It was clear that Vance, too, was shocked at hearing about the things that'd happened and he promised him that Melissa Chester would be kept in the Interrogation Room until Gibbs came to do the interrogation himself and he promised the Lead Agent not to inform the Admiral or anyone else for the time being.

They all knew that she didn't deserve anything less than a life sentence for her crimes.

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	6. Chapter 6

Hours later, Gibbs was joined by Abby, Ducky, Tim and Ellie at the hospital. He knew that if it wasn't for the fact that Palmer's wife was sick, they both would be there, too.

He'd tried to send everyone home, but they'd refused pointblank and knowing they were worried about Tony as much as he was, he'd finally given up on trying. He wanted to spare Abby the details of Tony's injuries, but one look in her eyes showed him that she was determined to be there and honestly, he thought with what he'd gone through, the younger man needed as many people as possible by his side to pull through this one.

He'd gone through hell, but at least he was still alive and if he wasn't exactly in one piece, he wasn't so far gone that there was no coming back.

As for the nonphysical injuries, they'd all make sure those injuries would heal, as well.

Tony had done the hard part; he hadn't given up; had lasted long enough for them to find him; _after_ going through the whole frustrating undercover operation that'd gone to hell in the blink of an eye.

"I believe you're all here for Agent DiNozzo, right?" A middle aged woman asked as she approached them, her hands pushed down in the pockets of her white coat. She didn't even bother to ask for the agent's family, seeing as everyone there seemed so worried and the case was far from normal, anyway.

They all gathered around her as Gibbs introduced himself and asked her about his agent.

"Well, Agent DiNozzo's list of injuries is long, I'm afraid, but let me assure you that he's stable and on the road to recovery."

"Full recovery?" Gibbs needed to know; because if, God forbid, the younger man was left with any sort of permanent damage as a souvenir of this ordeal, fixing the psychological problems would become much harder.

"Barring any complications, yes. That's what we hope for." She was of course talking about the physical damage.

"So?"

"So, the incision to his side and lower back to take his kidney out was clean and just needed stitches; admittedly, many stitches were required and now there'll be a surgical scar left; but his kidney is functioning well. Whoever had punched him, had been careful about his internal organs."

"Because they needed those things." Gibbs growled, feeling the need to point out that they hadn't done it as a favor to Tony.

"Yes, well, it's good news nevertheless." The doctor nodded sympathetically. "His back needed some more stitches in various places due to the welts and broken skin. Some wounds were deeper and needed deeper layers of stitches. He can't lie on his back for a while and stretching won't be an option until his stitches are out." She paused to give them some time to digest the information. "He has some deep contusions and bruising all over his chest and face; but those will heal with time. He has a second degree concussion and is being monitored for it, but I think at this point, it's nothing to worry about. The burn marks on his arms, chest and neck were bad. I'm afraid we can't do anything about them and they'll leave some scars. We cleaned them while we were at it, but they've been left unattended for too long and by the time he got here, they'd already started to scab over. They'll probably be a bit painful for a while, but they're healing, as well. Any question, so far?"

Gibbs shook his head on behalf of everyone else; so she continued.

"His fingernails were pulled out; we've bandaged his fingers and he just should be careful and wait for the fingernails to grow back. Three of his fingers were broken which we set. Two of his ribs were cracked as well, but nothing was broken there. His left shoulder was dislocated which took us some time to repair and Agent DiNozzo is going to need physical therapy for that shoulder. His right one wasn't dislocated, but the muscles were pulled pretty badly, so yeah, more pain for a while. Other than these things, there were some superficial lacerations to his thighs that seem to have been inflicted by a knife. We had to reopen them to clean them thoroughly as some of them looked infected and then we stitched them as well. At this moment; our biggest concern is the risk of infection. With his spleen removed, and his lungs scarred, infections are more dangerous and he's more susceptible to any sort of infectious disease."

"You didn't say anything about preforming splenectomy. And why would you do that? You said his internal organs were fine." Abby spoke up worriedly and the doctor looked at her with open mouth; she then glanced at other people around her, realizing that expect Agent Gibbs, the others were showing no signs of knowing what has happened to their friend.

Gibbs closed his eyes; tilting his head towards the ceiling, he took a deep breath; Ducky quickly caught the look on his face and let out a pained sigh. "Oh Dear Lord."

McGee and Bishop were the next ones to catch the expression on their boss' face. McGee turned white as Ellie looked around and rushed towards the bathroom as she suddenly felt sick.

At McGee's quiet mantra of ' _God, no. no. no'_ , Abby's eyes widened. "What? What's it? What do you all know that you're not telling me?"

Gibbs reached out and pulled her to his side. "Abby-"

"No. Tell me, Gibbs. What's it?"

"The doctor didn't take Tony's spleen out." He said quietly.

"What? But she just said his spleen is removed. Didn't you?" She looked at the doctor, wondering if she'd heard wrong.

"Abby! The _doctor_ didn't do it." He repeated more emphatically, hoping that the Lab Tech. would get it without him actually saying it; he wasn't sure he could talk about what had happened, just now.

"Yes, I heard-... Wait. What do you mean the _doctor_ didn't do that? Who else would-" She paused. Her eyes were wide and she was blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears in them. "Did anyone else... Wait... _They_ did it, didn't they? _They_ took Tony's spleen out when he was there, didn't they? O my God, Gibbs, you were too late."

Gibbs felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Nobody said a word as Abby sank into a chair and bent forward, burying her face in her palms. She hadn't meant to accuse Gibbs; her tone hadn't been accusing at all, but her world was black and white and she couldn't really see things any other way; to her, Gibbs hadn't reached Tony in time and she'd just voiced that thought.

"Just like in my dream." Her voice was muffled behind her hands. "O my God, Gibbs. His eyes were open." She suddenly blurted out, looking even more horrified than before. "Was he awake when... Tell me he wasn't awake. Tell me he didn't see it."

When Gibbs clenched his jaw and looked upward again, everyone around him gasped. Knowing that the Senior Field Agent had lost his spleen while captive was one thing, but knowing that he'd been awake through the whole procedure was a whole new thing.

Ellie who'd just returned collapsed in another chair, too drained to even feel sick again.

Even the doctor had paled at that news. "Oh, I didn't know that."

Gibbs turned his gaze to her and said, "Anything else?"

The doctor blinked, confusion written all over her face. "Excuse me?"

"Anything else on the list of his injuries?" Gibbs asked tiredly.

She rubbed her cheek with her left hand and shook her head. "No. No. Like I said, umm, the infection is what we're worried about the most. That's why we have him on some pretty strong antibiotics."

"The loss of spleen won't cause him any trouble later, will it?" Gibbs asked forlornly.

"He definitely needs to be more careful. Any infection in future could be more dangerous for him."

"He already needed to be more careful because of his lungs." Gibbs pointed out and then thought with himself that despite that warning, Tony had never been all that careful.

"Well, even more careful now. The risk of pneumonia is higher in people who lose their spleen; Agent DiNozzo was already at a higher risk because of his scarred lungs, so now the risk is even higher. You gotta understand it and make sure he's extra careful from now on; he might not take it seriously himself, but people around him should keep an eye on him and his situation." She said and then looked at the group before quietly adding, "He's gonna need a lot of support and... And I think you know that he's gonna need to talk to someone."

"Yes, and he will." Gibbs answered curtly. "Thank you, Doc." He added, indicating that he didn't need any psychological advice just yet.

He knew Tony'd need a lot of help to get past what'd happened to him and he'd get him all the help he needed and he and everyone else would be there for him all the way; didn't matter if the younger man didn't want to open up to them, they'd just be there to show they had his back. They'd pull Tony through this. No matter how long it took; but at this moment, he didn't need any advice; he knew how screwed up everything was.

.

...

.

They'd caught Melissa red-handed. Literally. So they didn't need much as a confession in the interrogation room and she had no way to hide the truth.

They, of course, needed to try to make her talk about the main members of the cartel, that is if she knew anything useful; so far, she'd claimed that she'd been in contact just with Albina Vikhrov and a few other people who weren't anywhere near the top. She could be lying and Gibbs was determined to find out, but it wasn't like she'd gain anything for hiding the bosses; her life as she knew it was over. Still, there would be more investigation and more interrogations; but that was for later.

First, they had to make her realize how dire her situation was and that no one would be able to save her; the smug look needed to be wiped off her face.

What irritated Gibbs the most was that he'd been so worried about the girl who was sitting in front of him, with no regret in her eyes! He'd thought about his Kelly the whole time they thought she'd been abducted and he'd tried everything to find her. Tony'd made huge sacrifices to get to her and she... She didn't even look slightly upset.

She was anything but innocent. The woman sitting before him, wasn't a regular 27 year old girl; she was a hardened criminal who didn't give a rat's ass about anyone else's life.

Vance had called the Admiral and had informed him that Melissa had refused to have a lawyer. He asked the man to stand with him and watch the interrogation; because after everything, he still didn't believe that his granddaughter could be involved in organ dealing. So he needed to see it with his own eyes to finally believe that he'd been wrong about the person who he still clearly thought of as his innocent baby girl.

At the end of the first interrogation session, before standing up to leave, Gibbs leaned forward and in a cold voice said, "My agent went through hell to find and save you. You'll pay for what you did and I'll personally see to it that you can never become eligible for parole."

Before he could leave, Melissa called his name. "Hey, Agent Gibbs?" She sounded annoyingly cheerful.

Gibbs looked back.

"Did you know that your agent was watching when I took his spleen out. I think he was mesmerized by the beauty of what I was doing, because he couldn't even blink or look away." She smirked. "Although, he turned kinda green when I held his spleen in my hand in front of his face and squeezed it."

Gibbs' fist clenched around her file and he summoned all his willpower to prevent himself from striking her.

"You got my cellphone, right?" She asked innocently. "You might wanna check the videos saved in it. There's one I'm sure you're gonna love."

Gibbs' face was now red; the veins on his temples and forehead had popped out as he had his jaw clenched.

"I'll tell you what it is; I fed his spleen to Albina's dog and recorded it just for you. I was actually going to send you his lungs in a box when he said they were useless, but thought you'd love the video as well." She wiggled her eyebrows; it was clear that she thought she had nothing to lose, so she wanted to hurt them one last time and she was clearly enjoying it how Gibbs' eyes were filled with anger and horror at hearing those things. "Watch it to remember me, OK? You could show it to him, too. I gotta admit he was pretty high-spirited and it did amaze me at times. Although, he probably has lost it now." She chuckled impishly.

Gibbs' hand slammed hard against the door, causing a loud bang to echo through the room and the corridors outside, but after a second, he calmed himself down. Pouring all his anger and hatred in his eyes, he stared down at the girl who was looking at him nonchalantly. "It disgusts me how sick you are, but while you're celebrating your madness, remember one thing;" He said in a low tone of voice. "Agent DiNozzo is alive. He's gonna be just fine and he'll put _many_ other dirtbags like you behind the bars; while _you_ will spend the rest of your miserable life in one of the worst prisons known to man. You're _never_ gonna get out; you know how thick your file is; no one will ever help you." It was his turn to smirk at the anger in her eyes and then he left the room.

Outside the room, Gibbs came to a halt when he saw a distraught Admiral Chester with Vance, standing outside the observation room.

Before walking past them to the end of the hall, Gibbs said, "Now you know." And that was the only thing he had to say to the man who until an hour ago had been in denial about the whole thing.

"Agent Gibbs!" Chester turned around and called him.

Gibbs looked back with no emotion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." The Admiral said, looking truly remorseful. "I... I-"

Gibbs nodded his head. "You didn't know."

"Still." He sighed. "I feel responsible for what's happened to your agent."

"He won't hold you for the sins of your granddaughter. He's too good a man." He was about to turn around and walk away, but after a moment of thinking, he walked back to the interrogation room and opened the door and motioned with his head for Chester to walk to him and meet his grandchild.

They didn't go inside; Chester just stood at the doorjamb and with so much disgust looked at the girl he'd once loved so much.

Melissa's face turned white upon seeing him. The only person she slightly cared about in her whole family was her grandfather who now was looking at her like she was the dirt on his shoes.

"I can never look these people in the eye because of you." Chester said icily. "I can never apologize to or repay the man who _you_ put in the hospital. I wish he weren't so good at his job and had never found you."

"Pa!" She gasped, moaning miserably.

"Don't call me that." The old man roared angrily. "You're nothing to me. I wish you were never born."

Melissa's eyes filled with tears for the first time since Gibbs had seen her and he felt a surge of satisfaction rushing through his veins as he saw the pain in her eyes.

' _Good!_ ' He thought. That girl deserved all the pain in the world.

With that, he turned around and walked away. He was done there. He needed to close the case for now to get back to the hospital to be with his agent.

Tony was sedated since his body needed time to fight the infection that had set in, without him being stressed and restless. Still, Gibbs felt he needed to be there for him, for both their sakes. He hadn't been able to do that for the last few months; since that stupid operation started, to be exact. It was time someone was there for the younger man.

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	7. Chapter 7

The nightmares that haunted his dreams differed from each other so much that, sometimes, Tony marveled that his mind was so creative.

They were all about the same thing, of course; him watching his spleen getting ripped out of him; but the variety of ways that it happened in his dreams could be kinda fascinating, _if_ it hadn't been so disturbing. Once even he'd dreamed that he was sleeping with Albina; they were doing the usual things together until she suddenly went wild and dug her fingernails into his stomach and after ripping it open, she took his spleen out and squeezed it in front of his face. Shuddering!

Despite the different forms of the same nightmare, the waking up was always the same; a gasp and then his eyes would fly open. The first few times, he'd also sat upright with the gasp, but after experiencing the excruciating pain for a few times, his brain adjusted itself quickly and after that he never moved again when he woke up. The cold sweat that covered his body hadn't abated, though; nor had the other problems, like the shaking of his hands and the rapid heartbeat or the tightness in his chest.

Every time that it happened, though- _and Tony really couldn't remember how many times, because it happened almost every time he went to sleep-_ when he woke up, Gibbs was there, standing by his side silently; offering comfort with just a hand on his shoulder and occasional squeezes. He always had a glass of water ready and once Tony's eyes cleared and he was completely back to the present, he'd push the glass against the younger man's lips, making him take a sip or two.

He even knew when the younger man's nightmares were worse and would have a basin at hand for when the ex-cop would get sick.

This time, thankfully, he hadn't gotten sick, though and a few sips of water calmed him down.

"Boss, you need to rest, too." Tony said when he felt he could talk without his voice shaking.

"I sleep when you do."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "That's the secret behind your great skin and good look, huh?"

Gibbs slapped him upside the head gently, but the corner of his mouth moved slightly upward at the joke.

"Yeah, thought so." Tony sighed. "Seriously. How much sleep have you gotten during the last few months?"

"More than you have." Gibbs said tersely, looking annoyed.

"Gibbs." Tony dropped the act, he was too drained these days to keep acting for long and especially with Gibbs, he knew he could be himself without his masks. "This won't go away magically. As much as I'd love to ignore it like everything else, I... I know I can't this time. Not if I want to get my life back. And I know I'm gonna need professional help to get rid of those..." He swallowed hard. "Those images." He completed. "But, maybe you need some help, too."

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said warningly.

"No, Gibbs." Tony said firmly. "I'm not some rookie you can scare. I've known you for over 13 years. Don't you think I know you well enough? I might've been in the center of everything and felt every blow, but I know you haven't had an easy time, either. I know you well enough to know how you torture yourself for something that you have no control over."

"No control over?" Gibbs hissed. "I should've brought more backup that night. You would've never gotten captured if I had or if I hadn't left. I walked out of that damn house and let them take you."

Tony blinked with surprise. "How were you supposed to know that that particular night things would go to hell to bring more backup? And you would've gotten yourself and everyone else killed if you hadn't left. Gibbs, we both know a leader sometimes has to make tough decisions, but _that_ decision was the right one. Heck, you saved me, at the end. We're all good." He paused. "Well, more or less."

Gibbs snorted. "Yeah, you especially are doing so hot."

"I said more or less." His hand unconsciously went to the bandage on the side of his neck where he had a burn mark.

Gibbs caught his hand and put it back on the bed. "Don't. You'll forget it's even there."

Tony wanted to say _'Not in this lifetime. Not when it's where I can see it whenever I look in the mirror. Not when people's eyes will keep going to it.'_ But he decided to keep quiet and nod instead. Because when he thought about it, he remembered that it could've been much worse. He could've had a burn mark on his face. They could've gotten his eyeballs out to sell. He could've lost way more than just a spleen. At least his life and career wouldn't come to an abrupt stop with a lost spleen.

Sighing, he eyed the cup of water on the nightstand. Gibbs caught the look and handed him the cup.

So far, Tony only liked to drink water, was forced to have some soft food and was prevented from anything solid. He hadn't eaten during the 6 days he'd been captured and his stomach was affected by it, so they had to start him on food gradually. Water, he always wanted because he'd spend so much time thirsty and it seemed like no amount of water could subside his thirst, and let's not speak about how those gulps of water calmed his frayed nerves or helped him to collect his thoughts.

"Will you talk to someone, Gibbs?" Tony went back to his main concern.

"I don't need to." The older man replied.

"Talk to Ducky, at least. Gibbs, you're not alright." Normally nobody, except Ducky, would dare suggest Gibbs getting help, but the situation was far from normal and when they had no audience, Tony could be just as insistent as Gibbs was and he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. Gibbs knew Tony wouldn't back off easily.

"What am I supposed to talk about?" Gibbs asked after a few moments; he'd figured that if he was going to talk, the best person to talk to was Tony; it could actually help the younger man, as well.

Tony narrowed his eyes; he immediately saw through Gibbs' act; but decided not to address it. "Your favorite color?"

Gibbs smiled slightly. "Don't have one. Next question."

"Really? You don't have a favorite color?"

"DiNozzo!"

"Fine." Tony went quiet; if Gibbs didn't want to talk to him he couldn't force him, could he? He was already putting too much energy into staying in the present and not get lost in thoughts and images of those hellish days; he didn't have much left of anything, let alone energy.

"When you'd order black coffee, we knew you weren't doing too well." Gibbs finally opted to start talking; he could see how hard Tony was trying to fix everything and he felt it wasn't fair to the younger man if he held back. No time was like the present and maybe if they talked, Tony could sleep better and he himself could get some shut-eye, as well. The younger man was right, he wasn't sleeping; he hadn't been able to, since the day he'd found Tony in that room with his side open.

Tony sighed. "Yeah. You did take care of those issues. Right?" He suddenly looked agitated as he remembered the things he'd been forced to do in order to prove his loyalty.

Gibbs studied his agent. Well, they hadn't been able to collect all the drugs distributed in streets, that would've been impossible; but there was no need to disturb Tony with that information. "Yes."

"Those two men?"

"Safe and sound with their families." That part was true, at least.

It clearly comforted Tony to some extent. "Good."

"You did great."

"Didn't turn out so good, though."

"That wasn't your fault and Melissa Chester will pay for it."

"She'd better." Tony said with a strange amount of anger in his tone.

"She will. Admiral Chester wanted to see you and apologize."

"It's not his fault that his grandchild is sick."

"I know you'd say so; told him you would."

Tony nodded. "He doesn't need to apologize. Let him know we just did our jobs; not his fault things went astray."

"What you did to find her location, DiNozzo-" Gibbs sounded sincere. "It didn't go unnoticed. You made a great sacrifice."

"Nah, wasn't that bad." Tony tried a wry smile.

"That why you kept looking more and more withdrawn those days, huh? Don't wanna know how you'd look if it were bad."

Tony sighed. "Alright, fine. I don't wanna do that ever again. But we both know I _will_ do it again if the situation calls. It was my own choice, though. And despite everything that happened later, I don't regret it; because at that moment, we didn't know Melissa Chester wasn't in fact a victim. Besides, Vikhrov had no boundaries; if I had resisted her, she would've done it anyway and then would've gotten rid of my _body_."

"Still. It won't go unnoticed."

"Thanks, Boss."

"And if it still bothers you later, you have to talk about that, too, when you talk to the shrink." As Tony's boss and well, friend, he needed to make sure the younger man wouldn't have any lasting problem after this case.

"It won't. And a shrink? So it won't be Dr. Kate's sister?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

Gibbs smirked. "She _is_ a shrink."

Tony laughed quietly. "We weren't supposed to talk about me, though. Remember? I said I'd meet her willingly, not that I have a choice, but anyway _you_ are the one who refuses to acknowledge his problem."

"Shut it."

Tony merely tilted his head.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and shook his head before giving up. During the days that his SFA had been missing and when he hadn't been sure if he'd ever see him alive again, he'd spent too many minutes wishing for this moment and a conversation like this to shut Tony out now. If it meant he had to talk, then he would. "Fine. I didn't sleep well while you were still undercover. When your cover was blown, I couldn't even go home and when..." He went quiet and once again thought about being completely honest. "My gut was churning the night before we found you. Abby, even, had a nightmare about you having your stomach cut open."

Tony winced. "Yeah, that's about time they did... _That_ thing." He looked down at the left side of his lower chest; the hospital gown had covered even the bandages, but he knew where the incision had been made and could see it even through layers of bandages and hospital wear. "They talked about taking out my lungs." He added quietly. "Wanted to send them to you. You know, since I told them they were scarred and weren't worth a dime." He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize he'd said those things aloud or that Gibbs visibly cringed at hearing it.

Gibbs knew that had it come to that; had they sent him Tony's lungs in a box, he would've totally lost it; there was only so much even _he_ could take. He just thanked his lucky stars that it hadn't gone that far.

"When they were opening my back, it wasn't as bad as the first time." Tony found himself unable to stop. "I couldn't see it and I was numb, so I could pretend nothing was wrong. I was just... I was mostly concerned about when they were going to open my chest for my heart." His eyes had a distant look in them and his hands had started to shake slightly. "Knowing my luck, I would stay alive even a few minutes after my heart was out of my chest so I could watch the most horrifying things before finally kicking the bucket." He said with a bitter, mirthless smile at the corner of his mouth.

Gibbs' face was unnaturally white. He wasn't used to hearing Tony talking about his fears so openly; but that didn't even register on his brain as the images of Tony watching his heart getting ripped out of his chest had evaded his thoughts and he vaguely felt he might even get sick any moment.

Tony snapped out of it first and closed his eyes with a sigh, clenching his fists and wincing when his tender fingernails and broken fingers protested.

"Can I have some more water?" He asked, sounding completely spent and Gibbs was thankful for having something to do.

Passing him the cup, he realized it was his turn to open up. "I haven't had a wink of sleep since we found you like that."

"I guess I'm lucky I didn't see that one."

"You saw worse."

Tony just looked away and sighed somberly. "Do you think they'll ever go away?" He asked uncharacteristically, referring to both his nightmares and the vivid images that he kept seeing even when his eyes were open. Heck, he'd developed a phobia about anything medical and was secretly thankful that so far he'd never been left alone in that hospital room. He didn't think he could ever shake off that fear. After the plague, he'd never been able to let a needle near him and now any medical stuff, from the stupid IV bags to the surgical instruments made him feel shaken; he was sure he'd never be able to walk into the morgue again and see Ducky performing autopsy on some poor bastard.

Gibbs didn't have a definite answer to Tony's question. "They will." He said, nevertheless; it was clear to him that the younger man needed reassurance, he'd be damned if he didn't give him that.

"My body looks like a jigsaw, doesn't it?" Tony asked suddenly, knowing that Gibbs must've seen him at some point.

"Most of those scars will disappear with time." Gibbs sounded certain. "And you're alive."

Tony's shoulders slumped further if that was possible. "Good point. But-"

"I know." Gibbs said quietly, knowing that since he wasn't in Tony's shoes, it wasn't right to tell him that it didn't matter if he was going to have so many scars because of a case that hadn't even gotten where they'd hoped it would. "I'm sure Ducky will have some suggestions for you if they start to bother you too much." And by bother, he didn't mean just physically; it was a known fact that physical scars were reminders of hard days and if DiNozzo needed them gone to be able to deal with those days and memories and move on, then they'd see to it that the scars would go away. That was what the plastic surgeons were there for, right?

"How's everyone?" Tony asked after a few seconds of silence. "The last time I saw them was yesterday and... They didn't look so good."

"No. They haven't taken this too well." Gibbs shook his head, replying honestly. "Abby is a mess, she just tries to keep it together in front of you."

"She's not doing a great job." Tony said sadly. "And Bishop looks sick every time she sees me. I wish there was something I could do."

"You already did." Gibbs frowned. "You're alive, DiNozzo. Nothing else matters. They'll learn to live with it and when you get back to work, it'll get easier for everyone else, too."

"I hope so." The younger man bit his lip.

"It's not about them. They're just worried about you."

"As long as they're just worried." Tony said bitterly.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. Was Tony really thinking that...- "They don't pity you. You should know better."

Tony remained silent, moving his tongue inside his cheek and looking anywhere but at his Boss.

"DiNozzo! They are scared and worried. They've never seen anything like this before and it's shaken them to the core." Gibbs said firmly; "But they do _not_ feel sorry for you. Not just because they're better than that, but because they have no reason to pity you. Nobody has. Those bastards might've gotten their filthy hands on you, but you're the reason we finally got them. I'm proud of you."

"We didn't get them all." Tony said, sotto voce; he still wasn't convinced that the rest of his team, minus Ducky and Gibbs, didn't feel sorry for him and didn't look at him like a helpless victim.

"That was out of our hand." Gibbs replied, sounding softer. "Vikhrov's outta the picture and so is Chester. The rest of the gang might've gotten away for now, but the FBI is on their tail and for now, at least, they've stopped their activities."

"If I hadn't just openly told her about myself-" Tony winced at the memory of the night that everything had gone downhill.

"Dammit, DiNozzo, you had no way to know. Your mission was to find and rescue _her_ ; it's _her_ fault things went down and you paid a heavy price for it. Stop blaming yourself." Gibbs wanted to shake the younger man, but sadly with his condition it was out of question; even hard headslaps were out of question. Life seemed hard!

Tony sighed and nodded. "Yeah. But you know what I mean."

"I do and I blame that damn girl for everything; for what you went through and for not being able to bring down the whole cartel. But it's not our case anymore; rule #11, DiNozzo."

"That's the thing; the job is not done." Tony retorted.

"Our job is."

And sadly Gibbs seemed to be right. They'd lost a case just because a girl had played them. He could only hope that the FBI was more successful next time.

"As for your earlier stupid comment; the team do _not_ see you as a helpless victim."

Tony had to admit that he was kinda startled; those were the exact same words that had crossed his mind, after all.

"Hell, you just proved how strong you are, DiNozzo." Gibbs frowned, not understanding how Tony couldn't see it. "They probably just have trouble understanding how you did it."

Tony stared Gibbs in the eyes and finally felt a bit better.

"We're all here for you, you know that, right?" This time, Gibbs sounded a bit worried.

"I do. I'm just..." He averted his eyes. "Well, not so sure of _myself_ , this time."

Gibbs felt a pang of sadness and fear in his chest. "You're gonna pull through just fine."

The certainty in his voice made Tony feel fuzzy and his teeth let go of the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks, Gibbs." Tony locked his gaze with his boss', hoping that his boss was right again.

Gibbs held his gaze and nodded and then added, "And I'm sorry." ' _For not being there; for not being able to have your back properly; for leaving you in their hands; for being late.'_ He thought with himself.

Tony smiled tiredly. "Thanks, but really, not your fault." He didn't think mentioning rule #6 was a good idea at that moment. Not when the tension was still so high.

Gibbs studied his SFA and once again vowed to be there for him every step of his journey to recovery. They all knew this time it'd gone too far and coming back from it wouldn't be as easy as before; even though some of the things that they, or more specifically _Tony_ , had come back from hadn't been easy at all. That only meant that this time it was beyond bad; but they still had each other and they still had Tony's back.

He thought that he might've failed him in the operation and in finding him in time, but he, at least, had found his friend alive and despite everything, the younger man wasn't broken. So there was still hope and Gibbs knew they'd pull through this one, too.

With his eyes closed, Tony tried to think about anything but his lost spleen or his scarred body. He itched for a few hours of nightmare-free sleep. He knew he needed it to be able to get over those terrifying days. He needed to get back to his feet and back to his beloved job. That was the only thing that could help him; he couldn't let Albina Vikhrov and Melissa Chester and all those other bastards win; he had to beat this and move on. Giving up wasn't in Anthony DiNozzo's vocabulary. After this, he might struggle; he might not be able to keep his head above the water all the time; but he knew he had a safety net and if it got too hard to go on, he knew Gibbs and his other friends would be there to catch him and help him to stay on his feet.

He also knew from experience that these things were especially hard at the beginning; so he just had to push for a while and then it'd get easier; a little bit at least and he had to admit, Kate's sister was surprisingly good at her job and would probably help him more than he could imagine at the moment.

So yes, it would get easier. He was sure of that; he just had to make sure of one more thing; that while _he_ recovered, so would Gibbs and his team. It was, after all, his job to look out for them and make sure they were alright. What they'd heard and witnessed couldn't have been easy and even though they hadn't had it as bad as he had, they still were clearly rattled and troubled.

So yes, he'd push himself forward, lean on them when it was needed and support them however he could.

Those bastards weren't going to win in breaking them apart.

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	8. Chapter 8

"She wants a deal." Vance said the moment the door was closed behind Gibbs; he didn't need to tell the other man who he was talking about.

Gibbs bristled. "What? No way in hell. Goddammit, Leon, they'd better not have accepted her conditions."

"Gibbs." Vance said warningly, "She says she's seen the main members of the cartel; we need to bring them down."

"And what are her conditions? Full immunity? After what she's done? And how do you even know she's telling the truth?" Gibbs was furious and he wasn't even trying to hide it; he'd promised himself and Tony that he'd not let that girl walk away with what she had done, and here the Director was telling him that once again _she_ had the upper hand.

"First of all, she won't get anything if she doesn't tell the truth." Vance replied calmly. "Second of all, no, she'll never get full immunity. She knows that. The best she might get will be a chance of parole in 10 to 15 years."

"That's not good enough, Leon." Gibbs clenched and unclenched his fists. "She confessed to the crimes she's committed and she wasn't even sorry. Ten years in jail will be nothing for her."

"Believe it or not, I hate this as much as you do and I know you've promised DiNozzo, but I think he'll understand. We need to see the whole picture, Gibbs."

The Lead Agent narrowed his eyes. "You've already accepted her terms, haven't you?"

"That's not my call anymore. The case is FBI's now and yes, they've accepted them. And before you start yelling, remember that they've lost agents, too; they want to bring those animals to justice. And if letting Chester have a very slight chance of freedom in future guarantees the safety of many more people, then I'll go with it."

Gibbs knew Vance was right; hell, he knew Tony would agree wholeheartedly; those animals had hurt so many families and so many innocent people, they needed to be stopped.

"Has she said anything yet?" He asked more calmly.

"She's in the FBI's custody now. And yes, I was told she's talking and she knows if she lies all the offers are off the table."

"She wants to just be eligible for parole?"

"Just that. And not before at least 10 years of her sentence is passed. And you know with a case like hers there's a big chance that she will never actually get released."

"She knows that, too, Leon. Have you thought about it? Why would she accept these terms?"

"Because it's better than no chance at all?" Vance shrugged. "Maybe she's angry she's the only one who's got caught. Besides, if she lies we won't lose anything. But if she's telling the truth and the names and info that she's given us lead us to something and we can shut down this cartel; then it's a huge win."

Gibbs didn't have anything to say, so he just turned around to leave.

"I can talk to DiNozzo if you don't wanna break your promise." Vance offered.

"My promise is already broken. But he'll understand." Gibbs said over his shoulder.

"How's he?" Vance's question once again stopped the Lead Agent.

He paused, then turned around to look at the Director. "He's getting there. Got himself released from the hospital a week early, but this time I can't blame him."

Vance knew what the older man meant. "Bad?"

"Not as bad as it used to be." Gibbs replied vaguely. "Like I said, he's getting there. He'll be back in no time."

Nodding, Vance said, "See that he gets everything he needs in order to do that."

Gibbs was relieved to see his SFA had Vance and the agency's full support, as well. Nodding once to show his understanding, he left the office.

...

Just as Gibbs stopped the car in front of the hospital entrance, Tony walked out, gingerly and very slowly. A nurse was helping him and although he seemed grateful, the younger man was also clearly frustrated. He was so concentrated on moving in a way that'd not jar his healing wounds that he didn't even notice his boss at first.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing back here?" Gibbs called as he walked up to his ailing agent. He'd gotten home just to find his place empty and he'd called McGee and ordered him to trace Tony's cellphone; he really wasn't ready to not find Tony where he was supposed to be. When the Junior Agent had told him that Tony was at the hospital, he'd broken all his records in driving to get there as fast as he could.

Tony stopped in his track. "Oh. Hey, Boss. Where did you come from?"

"Why are you here, DiNozzo?" He asked angrily; on the inside he was still shaken from not finding Tony at home and then hearing that he was back at the hospital.

"Um, right. Had physio, Boss." Tony replied, his voice laced with confusion; he had no idea why Gibbs was so angry.

' _Damn_.' Gibbs cursed inwardly. He'd totally forgotten that today was Tony's first physical therapy session as an outpatient.

The younger man had been released from the hospital two days ago and Gibbs had taken him to his own place to keep an eye on him and if it hadn't been for Vance's call, he would've never left the house. But Vance had called and after that Gibbs had felt the urge to check things with Fornell and then the BOLOs that they'd put out there; all those things had taken his time and he'd forgotten about the physical therapy.

"Couldn't you call? How did you even get here?"

"Umm, there's this thing called cab, Boss. It's great." Tony answered helpfully; he could see that something was bothering his boss, though.

Gibbs knew for a fact that his agent had grown a new fear for hospitals and their smells and everything medical; he'd promised himself to always be there whenever the younger man needed to go back to the hospital, either for further checkups or his physical therapy. And in his rage over Chester's case, he'd forgotten that. "You should've called me."

"I'm not a kid." Tony retorted wearily as Gibbs helped him sit in the car.

Moments later Gibbs was in the driver's seat; looking troubled.

"Gibbs," Tony said after studying him for a few moments. "Seriously, I'm fine. I know you know how I feel about hospitals these days, but I needed to see if I could do this." That was partly why he hadn't called his boss. Partly, he just didn't want to be a burden.

Gibbs' hand connected lightly with the back of his head. "You're not a burden; put that through your head before you end up with another concussion."

Rubbing his head, with his right hand, as the left arm was still in a sling, Tony rolled his eyes at the fact that sometimes Gibbs could read him so easily.

The only consolation was that he could read his boss just as easily. "So? What's wrong?" He could say Gibbs' problem was more than not finding him at home. "Why did you come back so early anyway? I figured I'd be back before you; even with the way I move around." And man he moved slowly.

"I'm on leave, DiNozzo. Wouldn't have left if not for Vance's call."

There, Gibbs' hand clenched around the steering wheel as he said the last two words.

"What was the call about, then?" Straight to the point was always the best strategy with Gibbs.

"Later." Gibbs didn't think talking about Melissa Chester right after a session of physical therapy was the best idea; Tony was clearly exhausted from that.

"Come on, Gibbs." Tony had different ideas, though. "It was about the organ dealing case, wasn't it?"

 _'Damn DiNozzo and his ability to connect the dots.'_ Gibbs thought. "Yes."

"So? Come on, tell me." When Gibbs remained silent, Tony sighed. "Gibbs, the more you wait the harder it gets, you know?"

"Tell you what?"

"Whatever bad news you're trying to hide."

"I'm not trying to hide anything."

"No, you're just trying to put it off for later. What's it? Has Chester escaped? Has she found some friend in higher places that has gotten rid of all the evidence so now she's gonna walk free?"

"That'll never happen, DiNozzo. I told you that."

"Then what's it, Gibbs? Because now I'm sure it's about her."

"She's asked for a deal."

Tony's eyebrow shot up. "Okaaaay. What kind of deal?" He asked slowly.

"She says she has information and names that can help the FBI to bring down the cartel."

"Full immunity?" Tony's voice was quiet. He felt like he was being selfish, but knowing that she might walk away just like that, after everything that she'd done; that was a bit too much and it was kinda too soon for that sort of news. But he knew he'd find it in him to eventually get over it if that meant many lives would be saved in the long run.

Gibbs heard the pain in Tony's voice and rushed to reassure him. "No. She'll have no chance of that with her case."

"Then what?"

"She wants to be eligible of parole."

"And?"

"And what?"

"That's it?"

"Isn't that bad enough for you, DiNozzo?"

"No. Well, yes; but not too bad. I mean at least she won't get away with it."

"I promised you she won't ever get free." Gibbs said angrily.

"And she's not." Tony replied logically. "She's gonna go to jail and she might or might not get free sometime in future. The way you acted I thought she's already free."

"She doesn't deserve parole." Gibbs shouted in the confined space of the car.

Tony winced at the loud roar. "No, she doesn't. But if it means the whole organization will be shut down and lives would be saved, then it's worth it."

Gibbs was quiet after that; he knew Tony would see it this way; he knew _he_ would've seen it this way if he'd been the one suffering from her insanity; but he also felt like he'd somehow broken his promise to his agent.

"Boss, it's alright. Really." Tony could understand what Gibbs' problem was. "I'm not gonna lie, if she'd gotten full immunity, I probably would've gotten up and left; not because I felt you broke a promise, I know it's out of your hand, but because I wouldn't feel really safe and well, because I'd be too angry and hurt to stick around. I know it's selfish but-"

"It's not." Gibbs interrupted him before he could go any further.

"It is a little bit." Tony sighed. "But now she's gonna go to jail and who knows when she'll become eligible."

"Not before 10 years." Gibbs helped. "20, if I can pull some strings."

"What?" Tony's eyes widened. "That's almost life sentence without parole. Just why would she give up information for that? You sure she doesn't have something up her sleeve?"

"She's 27, DiNozzo. In 20 years she'll be only 47."

"Yeah, she'll be still younger than you are now, I know, but-"

The hand that collided with the back of his head was completely expected after a comment like that.

"She was going to rot in jail. Now she might get free in 20 years."

"And she might not. And come on, Boss, in 20 years we won't even care about her. There will be so many other things to be worried about." He didn't mention that in 20 years, they might not even be alive to care about her; with the job they had they couldn't be sure they'd be alive in 20 days, let alone 20 years.

"You didn't break your promise, alright?" Tony insisted. "And thanks for that." He added more softly.

Gibbs glanced at his agent and saw the gratitude under all the pain and weariness in those green eyes.

Tony was right, in 20 years, they wouldn't even remember her so much; she wasn't worth remembering; maybe the situation wasn't that bad after all. Everything was still so fresh and with Tony who'd just started seeing Dr. Cranston, his emotions were raw, too; hell, he still had nightmares some nights; but no matter how long it took, they'd finally move past this one and he'd make sure Tony wouldn't feel betrayed by the system after sacrificing so much.

"You alright with it?"

"Me?" Tony paused. "Yeah, yeah, I guess I am." And he meant it. "She's not gonna get away with anything; just as you said."

"If you changed your mind; let me know, my rifle is still in the closet."

Tony was pretty sure Gibbs wasn't exactly joking. "Umm, yeah, thanks, I think. But let's leave her punishment to the system, huh?"

"We already have."

"And hopefully the rest of them will pay, too, now. This is actually a better outcome than I thought."

"See; told you, you did great. Just, next time, change your methods."

Tony stared at the older man incredulously before chuckling. "You got it, Boss."

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**... The End...**


End file.
